Xu leads, Clark challenges for podium place

Lijia Xu of China continues to lead the Women’s Laser Radial World Championships, being sailed off Takapuna, New Zealand, going into the final day of the regatta tomorrow. Xu is four points clear of Evi Van Acker of Belgium in second with Sarah Steyaert holding on to third place a further nine points behind Van Acker. Penny Clark and Andrea Brewster (GBR) are in 4th and 5th places

After regular postponements over the initial four days, conditions on the Hauraki Gulf today were conducive to an on time 10am start to racing on what was the penultimate day of the 2008 Women’s Laser Radial World Champs. Three races were sailed today with a total of eight races now on the board, and just one day of competition remains.

Racing now in gold and silver fleets, sailors today encountered a predominantly overcast sky and a north easterly breeze which ranged between 6 and 10 knots. Sailors had challenging chop to contend with which made things interesting.

'Race one we had 8-10 knots, less in the second race, like 6-8 knots, and then a little more again, but it was really hard with the waves,' said Evi Van Acker after racing. 'It was kind of like China, so that was good practice.' 'You couldn’t really see where the wind was coming from because the waves were so big. It was really difficult and everyone had mixed results, and I think that’s why I’m still in second place.'

Chinese sensation Lijia Xu, who had the overnight lead, won the first race of the day in the gold fleet. Eighth around the first mark Xu had to battle back to cross the line 12 seconds ahead of Charlotte Dobson GBR.

Race seven was Xu’s worst in the regatta to date apart from her DSQ in race two; she finished 30th which effectively wiped her large leading margin putting Evi Van Acker of Belgium back within striking distance of the lead. Van Acker managed to further diminish Xu’s lead by finishing ahead of her in race eight, the last race of the day. Xu was 6th while Van Acker was 4th narrowing the gap to four points at the conclusion of the penultimate day.

Sarah Steyaert of France retains third place overall despite a mixed day on the water. She recorded a 24th, a 20th and a 3rd today and now has a points total of 58, nine points back from Van Acker. Behind her, Penny Clark GBR is her closed rival who would need to close an eleven point gap to Steyaert to make it onto the podium.

Olympic Qualification

With just six Olympic berths still available and 23 nations here in Auckland who have not yet qualified the battle for national Olympic qualification is on. The pecking order after today of those in the hunt for Olympic qualification is as follows… Greece, Spain, Russia, Ireland, Croatia and Czechoslovakia with Paraguay further down the list.

Women’s Laser Radial World Championship 2008

Results Radial - Gold

Scores take into account 1 = ;discard=20

No

Sail Number

Name

Scores

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

CHN 193008

Xu Lijia

45

3

(dsq)

1

1

3

1

30

6

2

BEL 193004

Van Acker Evi

49

1

2

7

2

14

(dnf)

19

4

3

FRA 193009

Steyaert Sarah

58

6

1

2

2

-36

24

20

3

4

GBR 193011

Clark Penny

69

10

7

18

13

-39

17

2

2

5

GBR 193010

Brewster Andrea

76

9

12

-28

17

10

4

15

9

6

AUS 193003

Blanck Sarah

78

1

4

8

-42

11

8

28

18

7

NED 193015

Bouwmeester Marit

84

4

7

16

22

13

16

6

-35

8

POL 193005

Szotynska Katarzyna

88

10

5

13

4

20

7

29

-36

9

LTU 193019

Volungeviciute Gintare

92

5

(dnf)

23

28

4

3

9

20

10

USA 193002

Tunnicliffe Anna

93

6

(ocs)

1

33

13

5

34

1

11

CHN 193042

Shen Xiaoying

101

18

14

15

-15

22

6

21

5

12

FIN 193007

Tenkanen Tuula

102

-31

29

5

6

26

12

10

14

13

USA 193020

Railey Paige

103

3

2

(dnf)

7

8

34

4

45

14

NZL 193001

Aleh Jo

108

7

6

5

43

2

28

17

-52

15

SWE 193115

Soderstrom Karin

108

24

10

2

9

38

-43

13

12

16

GBR 193006

Dobson Charlotte

111

5

3

48

19

(dnf)

2

26

8

17

NZL 193014

Winther Sara

117

26

19

20

6

8

-40

25

13

18

GBR 193013

Vickers Lizzie

118

8

6

15

16

31

9

-51

33

19

GBR 193018

Baldwin Laura

120

22

9

13

23

-44

31

11

11

20

SUI 193113

Brugger Nathalie

121

7

5

14

-50

5

19

31

40

21

SIN 193108

Yin Elizabeth

124

41

33

10

5

19

-44

1

15

22

ESP 193052

Cebrian Alicia

124

18

23

6

16

18

-23

27

16

23

GRE 193067

Mantzaraki Eftychia

124

11

8

17

28

17

15

-46

28

24

ESP 193055

Romero Steensma Susana

125

37

27

25

1

1

22

12

-57

25

POL 193103

Gladysz Zuzanna

125

14

28

4

-32

28

18

3

30

26

FIN 193058

Multala Sari

134

2

1

-37

36

32

32

5

26

27

RUS 193105

Chernova Anastasia

134

17

20

18

8

7

10

54

-55

28

GRE 193070

Kravarioti Virginia

136

20

8

20

29

-38

13

36

10

29

DEN 193050

Schutt Maiken

139

16

10

22

18

25

-53

14

34

30

FRA 193017

de Turckheim Sophie

142

4

(ocs)

9

5

28

50

24

22

31

IRL 193074

Peelo Ciara

146

-34

31

16

25

12

21

16

25

32

BEL 193025

Maes Laura

147

43

-45

3

23

3

35

23

17

33

CAN 193038

Ross Lisa

148

37

14

3

14

20

-55

22

38

34

CRO 193016

Mihelic Tina

150

30

11

8

20

15

-39

39

27

35

CRO 193045

Petronijevic Mateja

163

11

(ocs)

32

3

10

11

43

53

36

CZE 193046

Fenclova Veronika

163

19

17

33

24

12

37

-47

21

37

ITA 193080

Nevierov Larissa

165

24

25

49

21

1

-52

8

37

38

FRA 193062

Brain Solenne

165

2

21

34

17

14

-47

45

32

39

NOR 193092

Samdal Elin

165

15

(ocs)

4

37

37

42

7

23

40

CAN 193037

Rasa Keamia

165

23

24

19

13

6

33

-52

47

41

SIN 193109

Lo Manyi

165

38

24

29

19

16

-45

32

7

42

CHN 193041

Zhu Jiangyan

166

12

20

11

37

54

14

18

-56

43

DEN 193047

Lindberg Alberte

169

25

9

12

-44

21

38

33

31

44

IRL 193075

Hanna Debbie

170

27

18

11

8

29

27

(dnf)

50

45

BRA 193027

Kostiw Adrina

171

21

16

30

34

22

29

-50

19

46

PAR 193101

Cerutti Bogado Florencia

173

16

11

14

10

41

-56

40

41

47

ISR 193076

Endelman Nufar

183

15

4

-56

9

30

20

56

49

48

CAN 193035

Bertold Isabella

187

29

12

26

12

34

30

-49

44

49

LTU 193089

Mileviciute Ausra

196

55

43

12

14

7

36

(dnf)

29

50

NZL 193099

Powrie Miranda

196

12

27

24

40

30

26

37

-43

51

CHN 193040

Shen Huanqi

196

17

21

27

26

-43

25

41

39

52

RUS 193106

Kirilyuk Alisa

201

39

31

34

27

2

-54

44

24

53

GRE 193069

Vlachou Maria

201

40

37

25

3

9

41

-53

46

54

ITA 193078

Clapcich Francesca

201

26

15

33

15

35

-57

35

42

55

PER 193102

Schmidt Paloma

216

39

28

6

31

19

51

42

-54

56

TUR 193117

Unver Ayda

218

28

22

26

18

27

46

-55

51

57

DEN 193049

Hall Cathrine

226

36

26

47

20

11

-48

38

48

58

NZL 193096

Hume-Merry Cushla

242

8

32

37

53

15

49

48

-58

Scoring penalties are as follows: =

CHN 193042 Shen Xiaoying Race 4 15, 15 -->33 scores, = arb

ESP 193052 Cebrian Alicia Race 6 23, 23 -->41 scores, 20= arb

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